The Unbearable Weight of Mets Talent: It’s World Series or angry mob after adding Correa

The New York Mets have been the story of the offseason, spending money at a ridiculous clip to obtain top-level talent like Carlos Correa. Now the Mets have to do the hard thing … win the World Series.

Perhaps it’s fitting that Spider-Man hails from Queens. The well-known line of “with great power comes great responsibility” was not only strong advice given to Peter Parker, but it’s also wisdom that should be in the back of the minds of the New York Mets throughout this coming season.

Mets owner Steve Cohen has set the bar high this offseason, thanks to a historic spending spree that culminated with the stunning addition of Carlos Correa to an already stacked lineup. Whether it has been adding talent from outside the organization (Carlos Correa, Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga, etc.) or bringing back key pieces of last year’s roster (Brandon Nimmo, Adam Ottavino, Edwin Diaz, etc.), Cohen has shown that money is no object when it comes to building a roster.

On paper, it’s fantastic fodder for those of us who cover baseball, and it’s motivation for every Mets fan to count the days until New York opens the season on March 30 in south Florida against the Miami Marlins. But it’s also a long season between March 30 and October 1, which is when the Mets close out the regular season at home against the Philadelphia Phillies, an NL East rival that also splurged this offseason on big-name shortstop Trea Turner. What happens in that six-month stretch will determine not only whether the Mets can actually knock the Atlanta Braves off the top of the division (something they came agonizingly close to doing in 2022, but failed), but also what kind of force this team will be in the postseason… if the Mets actually make it.

And yes, that’s a possibility. This team that has so much talent could crater under that weight. It’s improbable, but not impossible. If that were to happen, the New York tabloids and sports talk shows would have content for months to come.

It’s World Series or bust for New York Mets with Carlos Correa signing

But could the content and hot takes happen even if the Mets make the postseason, but fall short of their goal of winning the franchise’s first World Series since 1986? After all, with great power (and record-setting payrolls) comes great responsibility (winning the Fall Classic). Anything less than that will make 2023 a failure for the Mets. It’s harsh, but true.

If we hop in the time machine and travel a year into the future and read about the Mets entering the 2024 as defending World Series champions, Cohen’s spending will have been a wise investment. If it’s anything less than that, the cash flow will have reaped as many rewards as J. Jonah Jameson paying Peter Parker for Spider-Man photos in an effort to find out the superhero’s identity.

The clock is not only ticking toward the start of the 2023 MLB season, but also toward the beginning of what will be a pressure-filled gauntlet for the Mets and their fans. This season in Queens, winning truly is the only option for those friendly neighborhood Mets.